A DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF OBITUARIES IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE

Abstract

Based on the theories of Discourse Analysis, this study makes an investigation into the English and Vietnamese obituaries in an attempt to discover some typical discourse features and then find out the similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese obituaries in terms of their structure, lexical choices and syntactic features. In addition, it aims at exploration of the impact of some sociological factors on the form and content of the obituaries as well as finding out the communicative functions conveyed by this particular means of communication. This study elicited a number of typical cultural characteristics of both two nations which lead to a better understanding of the interrelated relationship between language and culture. The findings of this study are clearly presented based on a survey of 30 obituaries in English and another 30 ones in Vietnamese which are taken from popular newspapers and downloaded from prestigious websites of government, regions or state agencies in England and in Vietnam. It is hoped that the results of this study will really provide some practical knowledge for comprehending a particular means of communication as well as for teaching and learning cross-cultural communication.